Author: A Solitary Pagan
The role of blood in witchcraft:
### 1. **Types of Blood Magic**– **Personal Blood**: Practitioners may use their own blood in rituals, believing it amplifies their intent and connects them more deeply to their magic. This can involve pricking a finger to draw a small amount of blood.– **Animal Blood**: In some traditions, animal blood has been used in rituals. This practice is often controversial and varies widely am...
Stregoneria
Italian folk magic, often referred to as “Stregoneria,” encompasses a range of practices, spells, and rituals rooted in the country’s rich cultural heritage. Here are a few traditional spells and practices you might find interesting: 1. **Protection Charm (Amuleto di Protezione)**:– Create a small pouch with herbs such as rosemary, sage, and salt. Carry it with you for prot...
Moon spirit symbols
Moon spirit symbols often represent various aspects of femininity, intuition, and the cycles of life. Here are some common moon symbols and their meanings: 1. **Crescent Moon**: Symbolizes new beginnings, growth, and potential. It often represents the waxing phase of the moon, associated with creativity and manifestation. 2. **Full Moon**: Represents completion, illumination, and the height of ene...
Lupercus
The association of Lupercus with witchcraft isn’t as pronounced in historical texts, but the figure does intersect with themes of fertility, nature, and ritual that are often explored in various forms of witchcraft and pagan traditions. **Historical Context:**– **Roman Mythology:** Lupercus was primarily recognized during the Roman festival of Lupercalia, celebrated in mid-February. Th...
Native America Honouring the Roots
The story of this land begins long before maps were drawn or borders marked. It begins with the First Peoples, our Native Americans, whose voices carried across mountains, rivers, and plains, and whose songs rose with the wind long before we called it history. They lived in rhythm with the earth, seeing not a resource to be conquered but a spirit to be honored. Every tree, stone, animal, and strea...
THREE OF VISIONS (CUPS)
Even in the enchanted forest, this is a remarkable sight. What appears at first to be a rumble of aggressive bears is revealed to be quite the opposite. Bedecked with garlands of blackberry brambles, three bewitching bears are dancing together in celebration. What are they celebrating? It’s a beautiful day in the forest and they are bears! What could be better than that? They dance bear-foot...
Autumn Equinox: Entering the Portal
We are now entering the portal and the wheel is turning again. A symbol of the in-breath and out-breath, the balance between two worlds. The dark and the light. A mirror of nature’s cycles of death and rebirth. The birds are following the Sun to the South and the misty elves dance upon the Nordic lakes. The balance between the past and future might bring vulnerability, as if we are leaving somethi...
EQUINOX BLESSINGS
May your world be brought back into balance and harmony and love wrap itself into every fiber of your being on this sacred celestial day. I make peace with the shadowI make peace with the uncertaintyI make peace with letting goI make peace with the changesI make peace with my knowingI make peace with the revelationsI make peace with my unresolved feelingsI make peace with my truthI reclaim my body...
September 22nd Equinox
The September 22rd Equinox brings a turning point in the astrological year. Energy begins shifting in a new direction, guiding things to change, evolve, and grow. If we look at the astrological year, the September Equinox is the halfway point, and a time when we start making our descent through the chapter we have been working on. While we won’t reach the end of this journey until the March Equino...
EQUINOX and MABON
The term Equinox is derived from the Latin ‘Aequinoctium’ which means day of equal night (as in nocturnal) – which occurs twice a year, the Spring Equinox and the Autumn Equinox. In modern Celtic revival systems, the Autumn Equinox is also known as Mabon, which has a few possible origins. In some parts of northern Britain, the Autumn Equinox was known as ‘Ecky-thump’ which was a kind of rural slan...
Mabon…Welsh God or Autumn Equinox?
I’m away this weekend honouring Cerridwen with a bunch of Druids on the shores of Llyn Tegid. So won’t be able to post much about the autumn equinox/Mabon stuff. So here’s just a gentle reminder that “Mabon” is the name of a Welsh deity. His name, “Mabon ap Modron” means “the great son of the great mother”. Modron isn’t an alternate name for him…nor the seasonal celebration…it is the name of his m...
Happy Autumn Equinox!
“Solstices and equinoxes mark the four movements in a celestial score. The older I get, the more I aspire to tap into the symphonic song of nature. To harmonize with the flow of seasons, the cycles in our landscapes, and the larger universe… The autumnal equinox falls between 21 and 24 September, as the Sun heads southward, crossing the celestial equator. In Celtic tradition, this equi...